The Defense Never Rests

Defensive domination in soccer differs radically from defensive domination in, say, American football. In football a great defensive team (think of the Baltimore Ravens from a few years back, or the ’85 Bears) overwhelms the offense, drives quarterbacks into panic, makes people hurt. But when soccer teams defend exceptionally well, the experience—for the opposing team and for observers also—is more like a subtle but accretive disorientation, a cumulative frustration. It’s “negative football” not in the Mark van Bommel you-never-know-when-I’ll-go-for-your-knees sense, but in a mathematical way: an iterative algorithm of subtraction, as the opponent’s offensive opportunities are reduced and reduced until their each possession seems to occur under a minus sign.

I have never thought much of Sir Alex Ferguson as a coach of offensive football: his chief contribution to United’s attack has been to station creative and precise passers (Scholes, Giggs, and now Nani) in midfield and let them find strikers with what soccer journalists like to call “incisive balls.” But Sir Alex, just as well as José Mourinho, I think, is extremely proficient at organizing and deploying a defense. Also like Mourinho, and like every other manager, Sir Alex’s best-laid plans can be undermined by defenders who, for reasons of age or injury, can’t really run—John Terry, meet Rio Ferdinand—but when his players are in moderately good health, they can make life very difficult for even the most creative teams.

The Gunners were just helpless against the Devils on Monday. When Arshavin came off in the 77th minute for Theo Walcott, Steve McManaman on ESPN said that he really hadn’t done anything all match, hadn’t had any energy, but in fact Arshavin had worked his tail off: he just couldn’t get anything through or around the wall. Likewise, Fàbregas had come on about fifteen minutes earlier but proved unable to have any effect on the match at all: at several points near the end he was reduced to dribbling in neat little circles near midfield, like a kid by himself in the park, with nowhere to go and nothing to do. The rest of the team lost their rhythm altogether and gave the ball away time and time again.

When a defense is playing as well as United’s played Monday, it’s hard to know what to say: no one defender stands out, because everyone is doing his job, which is to say, everyone is just getting in the opponents’ way. They’re all little Satans, you might say, since the Hebrew word ha-satan means “the adversary” or, literally, “the one who blocks the path.” When Cannavaro was in his prime he never seemed to run, or to fling his body John-Terry-style at a ball or a player; instead he seemed always just to be in what was to his opponent the most annoying place on the whole pitch. Against Arsenal the Manchester United defenders all played like Cannavaro.

This kind of achievement is almost invisible: when defenders are well-schooled and thoughtful, they get themselves into the proper position before they need to, which means that attacks don’t need to be thwarted because they can’t really get started. Thus the sense I mentioned earlier of having offensive opportunities minused out. It’s so frustrating for players and coaches that they they don’t know whom to blame: surely those defenders are cheating somehow, or we’re just having our own private terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day, or—wait! I have it! It’s the bloody pitch that’s at fault!

I trust that it’s clear that I don’t mean to say that the strikers themselves have incisive balls, though of course they well may, depending on which Man Utd forwards you have in mind, but… just read the sentence again, if you would. Syntax is hard.

I felt that I needed a nickname there, you know? Maybe to use in conjunction with and opposition to “the Special One,” if I dared to drag that hoary old thing out of its box in the attic. So I googled “Alex Ferguson nicknames” and the first hit I got was this page, which says that his name is “Alexander Ferguson” and his nickname is “Sir Alex Ferguson.” So there you go.

The Defense Never Rests

Having adored and respected the AC Milan side of the 80s/90s during the breakfast years of my life, I appreciate this whole-heartedly. However, some premium should be placed on the weird predictability of Arsenal’s attacking. You know that they’ll never attack straight down your throat; that would be too uncouth for Wenger’s coquettish philosophy.

Instead, they try to lure teams into their cuddly embrace before slipping past and tapping into an empty net. I’d argue that United’s fortitude on defense, while admirable, was equal parts smart organization and confidence that Arsenal’s lateral movement would be surprisingly simple to corral.

Makes me think of the “two walls of four” that many 4-4-2 teams employ, and how the space routinely gets squeezed between those walls so that attackers are swallowed whole.

I daresay United’s world would have been rocked if a single Gunner had deigned to take a defender on one-on-one without the tippy-tappy flirting across the midfield. Still, I agree with you about the beauty of defending!

The defensive line in soccer is similar to an offensive line in american football. They defend the goal/goalie like an offensive lineman would his quarterback on pass protection. As is the case with an offensive line, when they do their job well most don’t notice them. It’s when they make a mistake that they enter the spotlight.

Very nice description. I agree that this defensive distinction is a huge difference between the footballs. I have often thought of Troy Polamalu as an American Footballer who as you say is “one who blocks the path”. Rarely do I see other American football players spend energy denying access to open space in this way. So many try to make the tackle and end up missing, when choosing to delay the ball carrier until help arrives seems a much better option.

Man Utd defenders all played like Cannavaro? Are you serious? This is a wind-up right? All I watched on Monday was two poor teams – let’s see just how Sir Ginsoaked boys cope if they meet Barca in the Champions League.

For what it’s worth, I think the most apt cross-sport comparison is with hockey–and the NHL’s own Devils. The mid-90s Devils (and scads of copycats thereafter) employed a positioning system called the neutral zone trap to do exactly as described above: not so much “play defense” as nullify offense.

In hockey, there’s much less space to move laterally, and only five players a side. It was almost impossible to mount a strong charge up the ice. Teams began emphasizing size and grit over skill and speed, and for a whlie there was a real dearth of quality play. When two trap teams played each other, it was soul-destroying to watch. Eventually, rules and officiating changes had to intervene to open up the middle of the ice and have real offense again.

On the soccer pitch, though, the enormous space, endless options in tactics, and multitude of players to a side means Man Utd’s defense isn’t a more-of-us-than-you numbers game, it’s an organic outgrowth of excellent tactics, great execution of same, and strong on-field rapport between players. A team can’t simply replicate that system.

@Alan Jacobs Thanks! My reply was made possible by Brian’s tireless JavaScript scouring, which enabled my quirky browser of choice to play nice with RoPs commenting mechanism. His effort has not been in vain!

Just in case anyone was wondering I’m a member of the ABU club (Anyone But United). I hate Man Utd with a passion but even being as objective as possible they do not not have a very good defense. Perhaps them being delightfully dumped out of the Champions League last season from being in a winning 3-0 position in the home leg against Bayern Munich has slipped your mind? Or the even more recent 4-0 humilation at the hands of the worst team in the division, West Ham, in the League Cup. Great defence – you’re having a laugh. As for Arsenal, the lack any sort of fighting spirit or determination. In recent years betting on them losing with a pathetical display to any of the other ‘big four’ teams would have been a sure thing. Arsenal lack any world class players and are the ultimate in ‘flat track bullies’, but even their ability to easily beat the lesser teams in the league is in decline – see home defeats by Newcastle and West Brom for example.

Good read. I believe it was Cruyff who said “If you have to sprint, you left to late”, or someting of the sort. United’s defense certainly played like this Monday. I am a United supporter, and I always hold my breath for half a second when I see an attacker such as Arshavin or Walcott have a go at Ferdinand. Still, he, along wih the rest of the defense, seems to have found a rythm that should worry Ancelotti and the rest of Chelski-land.

Interesting article, rises enjoyably in the second act. Nonetheless, I am an internet person and have quibbles, two in fact:

Quibble the first: United’s/Sir Cums A Lot’s success over the past two decades have been due to an utterly unpredictable McFlurry style of attack. United always go for the jugular and when they’re at their best they attack in an insane manner, all of them at once; even at their worst they manage to constitute a blizzard of Fletchers. You may be right to suggest Sir Hugs Plenty O’Cock isn’t a great ‘offensive strategist’ but i’ll have my piles turn green before I understand how the hell he’s managed to keep the same bizarre patternless formation beating almost everyone for so long.

Piles aside, though, I vaguely recall hearing United were letting in 1.5 goals a game this season since Ferdinand came back. Arsenal hardly had 1.5 chances. Though I wholeheartedly agree with your Arshavin point (avast: quibble the second) perhaps Arsenal didn’t get anywhere because, incisive or no, they have no bleedin balls.

An offense slowly simmering down until they are not only no longer simmering but in fact not even in the metaphorical pot? I have to say this is a useful way of visualizing Arsenal’s “entertaining” offense and I will meditate on this as I watch them battle under the minus sign of Rory Delap’s ears tomorrow morning (USA! USA!).

But that’s not what I’m here to talk about. It was mentioned here on these very pages that this game would likely feature a Fabiański-disguised-Cantona-based attack on Patrice Evra. But then a different Pole played. And so then Rio Ferdinand leapt at least 13 feet in the air and himself did a Cantona on poor innocent Bacary Sagna.

And what I want to know from you liberal arts football people is: is this attack related to snoods? Was Ferdinand simply avenging the honor of his own or his brother’s past braids? Or does this have something to do with Old Sir Baconface using math to beat teams via janky Korean-forehead-deflected goals?

This is the only comment on this site which encircles itself on being “offensive” and “derogative” .

No one has played like Garrincha and Lev Yashin. Garrincha used to ‘dance’ on the pitch while Yashin never came out of goal-line… not even in one-on-one situations. At least that’s what videos have shown so far.

van der Sar… respects for this man. Champions League winner at the age of 23 and wins again at the age of 37. His trophy haul speaks for himself. Monster-goalie. But, van der Sar has always (has) played like van der Sar.

Nani… can’t even say. Always lived under the shadow of his fellow Portuguese and somewhat couldn’t develop in to the player we all expected but still enough time. All things aside; he can’t even stand like Garrincha… let alone ‘play’ like him.

“Guys” like Roy Keane and van Bommel are not everyone’s cup of tea but all the managers do need players like ‘van Bommel’.

Nice little lines of eulogy on Cannavaro in the post, though. Loved that.

gr8 article! i totally agree with your point about Man Utd’s attack! its just like a rapid improvisation most of the time. anyone goes anywhere as and when they feel like and the other adjust accordingly. Its one of the reasons I love Man Utd. Sometimes Berbatovs the striker up top n rooney creating from deep, sometimes the other way around, same with the centre mid’s, only the wingers roughly hold their place, that too when cristiano was around there was wandering there too! Compare this with the structure and philosophy of barcelona or arsenal.

Also totally agree with “Danny’, and from what I’v seen some derogatory nicknames for Sir Alex include SLur Alex, Purple nose, red nose, I read 1 fan writng on a football site, “I hate it when purple nose is right!” Hilarious!

@Alan Jacobs I’m also hoping we can solicit a follow-up called “Sir Scottish Persongon: How Sir Pramhap Flumguzzleson Sir Conair Hotblastedsonned His Way To The Sir Ochrelip Porefloridson Premier League Title.”

@Alan Jacobs I prefer to think of Sir Gimcrack Gobblecoughflapfeathermapleson as the Scottish Sir Knockthemofftheirfuckingperch OnlyusingonegunathemomentbutI’llgettheGatlingguninJanuaryerguson. Just so we’re clear.

@Graham Lister
Don’t know where you’re getting that. Arsenal have a group of talented and expensive attackers who’s one real chance was a fumble by the keeper, kept out of the net by a stellar block from Vidic. I don’t see what more that back line could have done all day, unless one of them scored a header on a set piece.

Another great article from “Run Of Play”, the Manchester United defence is every man for themselves as you said they all do their job which is important when you have players like Nani who don’t like tracking back helping their defenders.